If Destiny Calls
by bionic4ever
Summary: AND2: New Destiny has resurfaced, trying to build their own version of a cyborg. They need a power source from a living example: will it be Steve or Jaime, and can the other one come to the rescue in time?
1. Chapter 1

**If Destiny Calls**

Chapter One

Rudy stared at Oscar as though he thought the OSI director had lost his mind, which, in fact, is exactly what he accused him of.

"Oscar, no offense intended, but have you gone completely insane?" the doctor gasped. Oscar lit a cigar from the still-burning stub of the last one and sat down at his desk.

"I have no other options," Oscar said firmly. "I don't like it either."

"You're throwing one of them to the wolves, basically saying _Here I am, come and get me_. If the timing isn't 100 percent on target, we're going to lose Jaime, Steve or both of them."

"Don't you think I know that?" Oscar snapped angrily. "If we do nothing - guaranteed, one of them will be taken - and killed! I could try and send them underground, into hiding, but you know they'd both refuse to go. I'd rather be pro-active and face it head-on; then hopefully they can both stay safe and we can finally get this group behind bars -"

"Oscar, you're risking their lives!"

The office door opened without a knock. "Is this a private fight, or can anyone join in?" Steve asked, trying to distract the two friends from locking horns. "Why yes, I'd love one - thanks!" he said, helping himself to one of Oscar's cigars. He lit it, then immediately stubbed it out when he saw Jaime in the outer office.

"Neutral corners, Gentlemen," she chided. "I could hear you all the way down the hall. Didn't even need a bionic ear." She turned to Steve and smiled with her whole face. "You're innocent, though. Hi, Steve." They shared a quick hug, and Steve pulled a chair closer to his so Jaime could sit down. Jaime looked at the two other men, who were barely containing their anger and worry. "I'm guessing the lives you plan to risk are ours?"

"Sometimes I wish you'd never gotten that ear," Oscar told her. "Actually, you're both in a lot of danger. I'm trying to keep you from being hurt - or worse."

Jaime and Steve looked at each other and, rather than being afraid, they both rolled their eyes. Even so, they took each other's hand and held on tightly.

"New Destiny is back in business," Oscar said grimly. "Instead of trying to go nuclear, this time they're going bionic."

"Excuse me?" Jaime was stunned. "Are you saying they've got -"

"Not yet. What they do have is a group of top scientists they've somehow recruited, and they've managed to replicate the circuitry and the connections to the central nervous system with frightening accuracy."

"Great..." Steve muttered.

"What they don't have yet is the technology of the computer chips or a way to power the system. They plan to -"

"To grab one of us," Steve interrupted, "and make it a case of ' the operation was a success but the patient died'."

"Yes."

"So what do we do?" Jaime asked.

"One of you will be the target. Rudy will implant a tracking device in your leg -"

"And the other will be able to pinpoint a location and bust the ring," Steve guessed correctly.

"Right. After the target is successfully extracted, the two of you will hopefully then be able to secure the area and help bring New Destiny down - for good."

Rudy got up and leaned on the edge of the desk, eyeing Jaime and Steve carefully. "There are potential problems. Best case scenario, the target is extracted before experimentation begins. If they start by going for the computer chips, it could be extremely painful, but not overly dangerous. I can deaden some receptors to help lessen the potential pain. But if they go for the power source first -"

"The target has about 90 minutes to live," Steve said quietly.

"Two hours, tops," Rudy confirmed.

Oscar stood up. "Rudy will also install a microscopic remote monitoring device on the chips and the power source, so we can know exactly what's happening and what kind of time frame we're dealing with."

Jaime leaned forward in her chair. "I'm going in. I wanna be the target."

"Now, hold on -" Steve protested.

"Steve, you've got a lot more experience. If that alarm goes off and we have an hour and a half, I could probably get you out, but I don't want your life hanging on a 'probably'.

"You're a lot better than you think," he told her. "And the thought of those people putting their hands on you...it makes me sick. Plus, there's the pain -"

"Well, I've got plenty of experience with that!" she said. "Rudy, when can we get started?"

Steve shook his head. "You're too stubborn for your own good."

"You might wanna put a tracking device in Steve's leg, too," Jaime suggested. "If something happens to me, you could still find him."

Rudy and Oscar looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement. Apparently, Jaime had made the decision for all of them.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"So, what's the battle plan?" Jaime asked. "I assume I'm not waving a banner that says 'Come and get me' so how do we get their attention?"

"Just be visible," Oscar told her. "I guarantee they'll be around. Work in your garden, hang out on your porch - just stay visible and available. Steve will be stationed in your basement, ready to move the second anything happens. Shouldn't take long at all."

Oscar was right; it wasn't long. Jaime sat in a lawn chair on the grass, pretending to be thoroughly engrossed in her magazine while actually remaining alert to every sound, every slight change in her surroundings. She was expecting to hear quiet footsteps coming up behind her, though, and what she actually heard sent her into near-panic mode. _THUD!_ - as though a body had hit the floor, coming from inside the building. Jaime broke from the plan and flew into the basement. In the spot where she'd left Steve, all she found was a note:

_We're not stupid, Goldman!_

------

Steve woke up and squinted in the total darkness, trying to get his bearings. "Jaime?" he whispered, unsure if they'd grabbed her, too. He found he was locked in a metal box or cell of some kind. He reached to either side and found little room for movement. When he tried to break the wall out, his arm throbbed with pain and refused to move the way he'd intended. _Damn,_ he cursed in his head, _they've already got at least one computer chip._ He tried to kick the wall, and found it unyielding, telling him the metal was reinforced with thick cement or brick, but at least his legs still worked. Steve felt his upper arm and was relieved that the power source was still safely under wraps. He had no choice but to sit back and wait for whatever happened next.

------

"Steve's tracking implant is active," Oscar told Jaime. "I'll have a general area within the next few minutes, and I'll send a team out in that direction. An exact location should only be a couple minutes more. We'll get him, Babe."

"A team?" Jaime repeated. "Oscar, that's not the plan."

"I don't want to send you in there alone -"

"Oscar, I can do this. And we don't know if they've already taken his power source. There might not be time to get a team in there. We have to assume we have less than 90 minutes. Now, one person - me - I could slip in unnoticed -"

"No, Jaime."

"If you try to send a whole team in, the second they see them, Steve's dead."

"I'm not sending you in and having both of you at risk."

"Oscar, it was ok to risk us both when it was the other way around. I'm going in whether you're backing me or not, and I'm gonna get Steve."

"_Miss Sommers_, this is highly insubordinate. I'm still your boss."

"Like I said, with or without you," Jaime said stubbornly. "Now, do you have a location for me or not?"

Oscar sighed, and gave her the address that had just popped up on the screen. "Is Rudy still there?" Jaime asked. "Can I talk to him a second?"

Oscar handed the phone to his friend. "Jaime? Are you having pain?" Rudy asked quickly.

"No, not really. Rudy - can I hear the frequency of Steve's implant?"

Rudy thought for a second. "Actually, yes. It would be a very high-pitched buzzing noise, louder as you get closer. But you won't hear it at all until you're right in the area; it's that subtle."

"Thanks, Rudy. Do me a favor - tell Oscar I don't have time to argue right now, and I'll talk to him later."

------

Jaime reached the address and wondered if Oscar had been wrong. The rickety old building bore no resemblence to the bustling complex of buildings she and Steve had encountered on their last run-in with New Destiny. She listened closely, though, and definitely picked up the buzz Rudy had described. It was very faint but grew in intensity as she rounded the side of the building. It seemed to be coming from somewhere near a large room on the second floor. Jaime jumped up to the window ledge, winced in pain as the leg with the implant hit concrete, but quickly gained her footing. Yes, the buzzing was definitely getting louder. The room appeared empty, so she kicked in the window and followed the buzzing noise down the hall, stopping in front of a door that looked like it led to a broom closet.

Jaime tore the door off its hinges in one solid motion and was greeted by a very large man with an extremely large gun. Sitting beside him on the floor was Steve's leg, the one with the tracking implant.

"Hello, Miss Sommers," he said, leering at her. "Like we told your boss, we are _not_ stupid."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Jaime was momentarily struck dumb, frozen in shock, as she stared at the unattached leg. What had they done to Steve? Before she could regain her senses, two men grabbed her roughly from behind, nearly pulling her off her feet. Jaime felt the unmistakable threat of a gun barrel at the back of her neck and another pressed directly to her head.

The original gunman turned and slid the shelf behind him to one side, revealing a metal door. He turned a key in the lock and pushed it aside as well. A wall of thick, heavy brick was next, with a keypad where there should've been a doorknob. He quickly punched in a code and Jaime heard the sounds of a pulley system and large gears grinding as the heavy door slowly creaked open. One more metal door, one last key, and a small cell was opened. Steve sat on the floor, glaring at the gunman who blocked his view of the people behind him.

"Make some room, Austin. You've got company." There really was nowhere for him to move to, but there was just enough space beside him for another person - provided it was a small person. The gunman stepped aside and before Jaime or Steve could react to seeing each other, Jaime was shoved into the cell and the series of doors slammed, ground and clanged shut behind her.

"Jaime..." Steve said softly, "I'm so sorry. I didn't hear them coming and then I got hit. I couldn't even yell to warn you." Jaime was still on her feet, and Steve could hear her kicking at the door, growing more and more frustrated. "We can't break it. Believe me, I tried."

"With one leg?" Jaime asked, continuing to kick in spite of the growing pain in her implanted leg.

"Huh? My legs are fine."

Jaime's efforts slowed, then ceased, and she sank to the floor, overwhelmed by exhaustion and pain. "They - they showed me - your leg," she said. "It had a tracking device."

Steve moved as close as he could to the wall, trying to make more room, but it was impossible. They sat side by side, legs bent slightly at the knees for lack of space, their arms and shoulders pressing hard against the walls and each other.

"They were playing mind games with you, Sweetheart," Steve told her, "Trying to psych you out. Rudy said they have the basic technology. That must be one of the pieces they built."

Jaime sighed. "It worked. I froze." She couldn't see in the pitch blackness, but if he said he had both legs, of course she believed him. "I should've fought. I should've...done something."

"You'd have only ended up with a bullet in your brain."

"Probably better than what they'll do to us now," Jaime said, her voice quivering. "We're sitting ducks for whatever games they wanna play, and whatever comes after -"

"We can't think like that, or we're already beat," Steve told her. He wrapped his arm around her waist, which made just enough room for her to lean into him and rest her head on his chest. "We can do this, Jaime. We'll get out of here, if we work together." He just hadn't figured out the 'how' part yet. "Are you hurt?" he asked her.

"No. Well, they didn't hurt me, but my leg isn't working right."

"What's wrong? Is it the implant leg?"

"Yeah. At first it only hurt if I really used it, like when I jumped to the second floor window. It wobbled just a little, then hurt like hell."

"I don't s'pose kicking the door helped much," Steve observed.

"I thought if I could just break it...the door, I mean. What about you? Did they -?"

"They took the chip from my arm, but my legs are alright, and I've still got my power cell. I'm ok." They were close enough that Steve could feel Jaime's leg against his - the leg with the tracking implant - and it was shaking violently, while the rest of her body was still. _Is she rejecting the implant like she rejected the bionics?_ Steve wondered, knowing he couldn't let Jaime feel his fear.

"We can't depend on anyone coming to get us," he told her softly. "There's a security breach - a leak - there has to be. They know too much. We'll have to do this ourselves."

"Steve, listen! What's that noise?"

They both listened intently to a barely audible sound, similar to air leaking out of a tire. "Oh no," Steve said, before he could stop himself.

"What is it?"

Steve unwedged his other arm from against the wall and wrapped it tightly around Jaime, pulling her almost into his lap, needing the closeness just as much as she was about to.

"Steve?"

"Sweetheart, it's gas." The sound grew louder and more threatening, and Steve was already becoming groggy, beginning to lose consciousness. The last thing he heard before blacking out was Jaime's voice - distant and weak as she faded too:

"I love you, Steve."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Steve woke up in a more 'normal' sized cell. There was just enough light coming through a small window in the thick metal door for him to see that Jaime wasn't there. He remembered feeling her grow limp in his arms while he was helpless to save her, then - nothing. Blackness. He thought of Rudy's use of the word 'experimentation' and felt chilled to the bone. The last words he'd heard Jaime say echoed over and over in his head. _I love you._

It seemed like an eternity but was closer to an hour before the cell door opened. A musclebound hulk with no expression carried Jaime into the cell and dropped her - unceremoniously and cruelly - onto the concrete floor at Steve's feet. The cell door clanged shut and they were alone. He thought she was, mercifully, unconscious, until she rolled over and moaned softly. It was then that he saw the gaping hole in her upper right arm. _The power source!_

"Oh, Jaime," he lamented, gently touching her face, "why'd you have to follow me here?"

"Didn't...follow..." she mumbled weakly. "Implant...tracked you."

"They've had this location the entire time we've been here?" Suddenly, Steve knew exactly what was going on and who was behind it.  
"Yeah...tired."

"Jaime, stay with me, Sweetheart. Keep talking."

"Can't...too tired."

------

It had been four and a half hours since New Destiny had grabbed Steve, and just under four since Jaime had gone in after him, prompting Hansen of the NSB to begin Regulation Procedures and 'bomb the hell' out of the building. Oscar had thought about nothing else in the last four hours and was still almost too numbed with grief to function. He knew the spiel: it was kinder than what they were already going through, eliminated any security risks, blahblahblah. But this was Jaime and Steve. Oscar's heart ached at the loss of his friends.

Four hours was enough time to let the dust settle and for any small fires to go out on their own. It was time to deal with the results of 'standard procedures'.

"Russ?" he called to the outer office, not bothering with the intercom. Russ silently appeared in the doorway. "Send a team to the site. I want an immediate report on anything they find." Russ nodded.

Oscar didn't know how much time had passed - there was no point in watching the clock - when Russ came bursting back through the door.

"The building's intact! It's still there!"

Oscar rose to his feet. "What about the bombs? Hansen himself told me it was done."

"No damage of any kind; building appears abandoned, though." Russ insisted. "I don't know what kind of game Hansen's playing, but -"

"I do," Oscar said grimly. "Get the Medivac in the air and make sure Rudy Wells is on it. I want every available unit - OSI only, not NSB - searching that building immediately. We need to find Steve and Jaime. If Hansen is located, I want him immediately placed in OSI custody and brought directly to me. I'll deal with him personally. And I need a car to take me to the site - now." Oscar was inwardly cursing himself for believing Hansen, but he'd had no reason to doubt him. Jaime and Steve's tracking devices had both gone dead at the exact time Hansen claimed the bomb went off. Oscar fervently hoped they were still in the building, locked away somewhere, both still alive, but he knew that grew less likely with each passing minute.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Steve knelt beside Jaime's prone body, trying to will her to open her eyes. More than two hours had passed since she'd been dropped at his feet minus her power source, and he had no idea what sort of effect his solution might ultimately have on her, but at least she was still alive. He felt himself growing weaker again, and knew he had to hurry up and make another switch. If he passed out, they'd both be dead. No one had come to torment them further, and Steve was beginning to think they were alone in the building. The sudden thunder of an army of footsteps coming up the stairs told him he was wrong. Was it still New Destiny, or had a rescue team finally come?

Steve completed the needed switch and almost immediately, Jaime's face began turning a deathly shade of bluish-white. The instant he felt strength returning to his own body, he began another hurried switch, knowing they didn't have much time left.

------

Oscar stood just outside the entrance to the building, listening closely for any news on his DataCom radio. Russ was hurrying toward him, with three men bringing up the rear, leading an indignant and handcuffed Hansen straight to Oscar.

"Seems everyone else took off," Russ told his boss. "Found this one jamming a briefcase full of electronic parts on his way out the back door."

Oscar handed the briefcase to Rudy, who had just arrived next to him. Rudy looked inside. "It's one of the power cells," the doctor said.

Hansen grinned menacingly. "Been almost three hours since we took it; she's long dead by now. Might still find the other one, though."

Before anyone could stop him, Oscar drew his arm back and then, with every bit of his strength, sent his fist directly into Hansen's stomach, knocking him to the ground. "Where are they?" he demanded, standing directly over Hansen and not allowing him to get up. Hansen merely laughed. Oscar brought his foot down into the same spot where he'd punched him. "Tell me where they are, or next you'll feel this boot in your damned face!" Oscar began turning purple with rage, and the operatives pulled him off of the NSB director, who was gasping for air.

"Second floor...first door on the right, down the hall...last cell on the left."

"The keys." Oscar said firmly. "Now."

"My shirt pocket. Can't really get 'em for you right now."

Oscar had the keys in his hand and was flying up the stairs before the men had Hansen on his feet. Rudy called for the medics to follow with both stretchers and headed in after his friend.

They stopped in front of the cell just long enough to unlock the door, and the sight that greeted them broke both Oscar and Rudy's hearts. Steve and Jaime were both lying on the floor, unconscious or dead, each with a hole where their power cells would go, and the one remaining power cell lay on the floor, still partially grasped in Steve's hand. He had one arm protectively around Jaime, as though his last act before passing out was to reach for her.

Rudy got down on the floor to check his patients. "They're alive!" he exclaimed to Oscar. "Both of them. Tell the medics to hurry - Jaime's in rough shape."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Oscar stopped in Rudy's office for an update before visiting his fallen friends. "Steve should be ready to go home in two or three days," Rudy told him, "although it'll be tough to pry him away from Jaime's side."

"And Jaime - how is she?"  
"Her condition is still pretty serious, but considering how long she'd been without her power source, it's a miracle she pulled through. Of course, that was thanks to Steve."

"How'd he do it?" Oscar asked.

"Somehow, probably through sheer determination, he took out his own power cell and was apparently sharing it with Jaime, switching it between them to keep them both going."

"Amazing."

"Love's an amazing thing," the doctor agreed.

"What room is she in?"

"Twelve; right next to the nurse's desk."

"And Steve?"

"Twelve." Rudy noted Oscar's raised eyebrows and answered the unspoken question. "After finding Steve next to her bed for the third time, and practically dragging him back to his own room, we realized that the only way to keep him in bed and resting was to move a second bed in next to Jaime's. Problem solved. C'mon - I'll walk down there with you."

------

The problem was partially solved. Steve was still out of his bed, but at least he was now in his own room. He sat close to Jaime's side, holding her hand. It had been over 24 hours since they'd both been admitted, and Rudy had said she'd be waking up soon, so the staff knew it was useless to try and make him lie down. He smoothed the hair from Jaime's face, tenderly kissed her forehead and was rewarded by the fluttering of her eyelids, which soon allowed him to look into the eyes he'd risked his own life to be able to gaze into once again.

"Hi, Sweetheart. Welcome back."

"Hi." She was still extremely weak, but had something she desperately needed to tell him. "Steve..."

"Shh-hh-hh," Steve said soothingly. "You need to rest. We can talk later."

"Steve," she said, a little more insistently. "Right before we passed out, I said something to you..."

"Jaime, we both thought we were dying; people have been known to say all sorts of things at times like that. I understand -"

"No, you don't," she said, her voice growing stronger instead of weaker. "I meant it. I - love - you. I guess I've known that for awhile, but I didn't want either of us to die before I could tell you."

Steve manuevered around the IV tube and the various wires to take Jaime gently in his arms, hoping that this time he'd never have to let her go. The two men at the door, who had silently witnessed the scene, turned and went back down the hall to give the couple some privacy.

"Like I said," Rudy remarked, "Love is definitely an amazing thing."

END


End file.
